HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-12-20 Public Comment - P. Neubauer - Climate and ParkingFellow Parking People and Concerned Citizens
I’m sorry not to be joining you today, but our window to elk hunt some private land
in the Crazies has opened and we are heading off to take advantage of the
opportunity.
My strong preference would have been to discuss with you my nuanced concerns
about our endorsement of the Climate Plan, but I will instead try to convey them
succinctly below.
For review, and to get on the same page:
Relative to parking, the 2019 Downtown Plan suggests: “Eliminate parking
requirements in the “Core Area” and SIMPLIFY for the rest of B3 by eliminating
reductions in favor of a flat standard.”
Bearing in mind that the “Core Area” is ONLY Main Street, alley to alley, from Grand
to Rouse.
The Strategic Parking Management Plan, Strategy 7 says: “Re-evaluate code based
minimum requirements.”
The Climate Plan, in the box on page 107 under “Performance Measures” says:
“Updates to the UDC that ELIMINATE minimum parking requirements in
commercial districts and affordable housing areas and reduce parking minimums
elsewhere where transit and safe routes are available”
I realize this was discussed at our last Parking Commission meeting. That is the first
meeting I have missed since being appointed, and I am sorry I missed it. Our
meeting videos are no longer posted online, so I cannot watch the video to see how
thoroughly the Climate Plan was discussed.
Though I’m not entirely sure, I would guess that “commercial districts” (as
referenced above in the Climate Plan) would include B1, B2, B3, M1, M2. There is
commercial activity in some PLI and R districts as well.
In my mind, endorsing the ELIMINATION of minimum requirements in all these
commercial districts would necessitate considerable discussion. To me, this
recommendation seems to go substantially further than either the Parking Plan or
the Downtown Plan. If the definition of a “commercial district” is narrower than my
interpretation, I am ready to be enlightened. Nonetheless, I see endorsing
ELIMINATION of minimums in all of these Zoning Districts as a pretty major step,
and not one that I would support at this time.
While I DO SUPPORT the notion of eliminating parking minimums for affordable
housing PROJECTS, I have no recollection of any clearly delineated “affordable
housing AREAS” as referenced in the Climate Plan. If one looks at all of the mid-rise
projects that have gone up and are under construction in the last 5 years, I think its
easy to see that our requirements are not too stringent to be prohibitive in the B3,
where I do support a simplification of the code. However, we need to be wary of
creating a loophole with the non-specific “affordable housing area” label.
Specific to the B3, as I’ve stated many times, I think the downtown RETAILERS
should have a large say in any major changes to parking requirements there. It is
they who are likely to be the most impacted, and are often in the most tenuous
position to withstand such impacts. Safeguarding downtown retail should be a
priority, and we have no statistics on commerce by travel mode. Until we do, or we
have broad support from downtown retailers, we should be treading lightly before
we further constrict transient parking supply for those doing commerce in the B3
downtown.
I very much look forward to participating in a thorough discussion about parking
requirements in the UDC. However, I think it is hasty to endorse a sweeping
ELIMINATION of parking requirements in ALL of our commercial districts before
doing so.
I regret not getting my comments to you sooner, but hope you will consider them in
your discussions Monday morning.
Sincere regards,
PN